LOS ANGELES — LeBron James poured 33 points and dished out 14 assists to push the visiting Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-104 victory over the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Monday in the Alamo City to win their eighth straight game.
The Lakers led by just four points heading to the final quarter but opened the period with a 12-3 run that features a pair of 3-pointers from James and was capped by his assist to JaVale McGee for a dunk. San Antonio never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Anthony Davis added 19 points, 13 of them in the second half, and 12 rebounds while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 14, Rajon Rondo hit for 13 points (three-for-three from beyond the arc), while Troy Daniels and Kyle Kuzma pumped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lakers.
Los Angeles, whose only defeats this year have come to the crosstown-rival Clippers and Toronto, is off to its best start since the 2008–09 season. That was a championship season for the Lakers.
LaMarcus Aldridge paced the Spurs with 30 points, with DeMar DeRozan adding 24, Bryn Forbes scoring 13 and Derrick White hitting for 11 for San Antonio, which has lost nine of 10 games and four straight at home.
The Spurs led 56-54 at the half as Aldridge, with 16 points, and DeRozan, with 12, paced San Antonio over the first two quarters. The Spurs outshot Los Angeles 53.3 percent to 45.8 percent in the first half.
James led the Lakers with 19 points in the first half, while Rondo poured in 10. Davis had just 4 points on 2-of-10 shooting from the floor.
The Spurs led 77-76 with 2:42 to play in the third quarter before Los Angeles rattled off eight of the ensuing nine points and took an 86-82 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.
Los Angeles has already defeated the Spurs twice in the first quarter of the season, both times in San Antonio.
CARMELO SCORES SEASON-HIGH 25 AS BLAZERS ROMP
Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting, and the visiting Portland Trail Blazers cruised to a 117-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
Anthony connected on four of seven attempts from beyond the arc in his fourth game with the Trail Blazers. CJ McCollum scored 21 points and Damian Lillard notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 assists for Portland, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 18 points on six-for-13 shooting. Wendell Carter Jr. fell just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Tomas Satoransky contributed 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Chicago endured its fifth loss in seven games. The Bulls trailed by as many as 28 and were outrebounded 55-37.
Portland led 105-79 when Nassir Little entered the game for Anthony with 7:49 to go in the fourth quarter. Anthony watched from the bench the rest of the way after his best performance since Nov. 2, 2018, when he scored 28 points for the Houston Rockets in a win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers held a commanding 92-72 advantage. The Bulls trailed by as little as five points with 10:55 remaining in the third quarter, but Portland closed the session on a 30-15 run.
McCollum started the scoring binge with a jump shot, and Skal Labissiere finished it with a jump shot from 16 feet. In between, Anthony hit two jump shots and a free throw to help Portland pull away.
Portland led 62-54 at halftime. The Trail Blazers established an eight-point lead thanks to a strong second quarter in which it enjoyed a 35-26 advantage over the Bulls.
Trail Blazers guard Rodney Hood padded the halftime lead when he hit a step-back jumper as time expired. Hood’s buzzer beater followed a basket by McCollum with 6.3 seconds to go before the break.
Chicago held onto a 28-27 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bulls trailed by six points before closing the quarter on an 11-4 run, which included 3-pointers by Coby White and Thaddeus Young. — Reuters
